Desert Mist
by Fatal Angel-Rei
Summary: This is a story I started about Hinata a while back. I don't know how it will progress though. :p
1. Found

Hinata walked out of her apartment. She looked around at the small shops in the city. Although this city couldn't really be classified as a city, because if you looked down Main Street you could see the south entrance one way and when you looked the other way you saw the northern entrance. The sun was still low in the sky, casting shadows in its early morning light. But in an hour it would be too hot to do anything, even the clay ground would bake in the glory of the sun. Hinata walked down her street to the general store. When she opened her refrigerator door today she found she had a small amount of milk in the pint she bought last, who knows when, along with a can of sauce that she didn't recognize the name of. The rest of the food in the fridge had spoiled to an unsightly green-grey color. The meat may well have been moving across the shelf as far as she was concerned. So that presented a problem. What to eat for dinner? So here she was buying food again.

"Hinata!" The shrill voice cut through her train of thought. "I haven't seen you in a while. Where have you been lately?" The store owner Suki was a kind soul she never really did much harm. Hinata liked her for her plump, homely figure. "Ohh... Umm... I was at my apartment I guess." The kind store owner looked at Hinata with inquisitive eyes. "That baffles me. I don't know why you would want to lock yourself into that apartment. You never come out and visit anyone. It's really not healthy for a person." Hinata stared at her feet feeling slightly embarrassed. "I'm sorry." Suki just smiled at her with the warm caring eyes that said she understood. "It's okay; I bet you have your reasons. Just come visit me sometimes. I worry about you is all." Hinata couldn't help the small smile that crept upon her facial features. "Sure."

Hinata had finished her shopping and was now heading home. The sun was higher and it was considerably hotter by now. All the shops in the small city were now closed up; everyone knew that it was insanity to stay out in the heat anyways. Those shops would open again in a few hours when the sun started to set in the sky again, when the heat took a break. That was the thing about the weather in the sand country. Between 12 and 3 the sun scorched the earth and all the people of the land retreated to their shelters. Hinata had lived in a different town of the sand before this one but she still wasn't used to the dessert heat. It was always too hot for her and her pale skin only burned and never tanned. So she always wore long sleeves and a hat to hide her from the sun's glare.

"Ahh... But I wanna get some ramen. I'm so hungry." Hinata stopped in her tracks. _That voice… Oh no... They're here._ Hinata looked up; there she saw them across the street. _How did they find me so soon?!? _Four of them: the silent Sasuke, the pink haired kunoichi Sakura, and the number one hyper-active ninja Naruto. But the last one made Hinata worry. Neji. Hinata immediately dropped her head down so that her bangs covered her eyes. She then continued on her trek to her apartment. As soon as she got through her door she locked it and drew the blinds closed. _I've got to leave._ It didn't take long for her to pack all her worldly possessions into her one back pack.

She was gone within the hour.


	2. Pointless

"Ahh… but I want to get some ramen. I'm so hungry." Naruto's whiny voice was getting on everyone's nerves by now. "Shut up you idiot!" The prized Uchiha glared at the blonde. "We have a mission to complete. You can eat when we're done." "But…" The blonde haired boy was silenced immediately by a glare from Neji. Neji was fed up with the annoying blonde. All he had done was complain about how hungry he as for the last hour. Neji turned to walk up the street, but he didn't miss the girl who hurried past them. Her eyes were turned down and her hat covered her hair. He watched her as she rounded a corner. _Didn't her skin look a little pale?_ Neji quickly pushed the thought out of his head. "Let's go. We need to ask around." Neji started walking towards the nearest inn.

"So this is it. I thought she might hide a in a more desolate place." Sakura commented. Neji walked up to Hinata's apartment door. Sasuke just stared at Neji's back like he wasn't interested in the least. But on the inside he was overflowing with anticipation. Neji knocked. No sound was heard from the other side of the door. Neji knocked again. Still no answer. Neji activated his byakugan to look for her in her house. "No one's here." Neji turned around to walk away from the door when the door of the next apartment opened. A young girl, just a little younger than he, appeared. The young girl took in the appearance of the shinobi she had never seen before. _They're not of the sand country. _"If you're looking for Hinata, she left about an hour ago." The girl stated. Naruto started to whine again. "Ahh!! Man. We were so close." Neji gave the girl an inquisitive look. "Where did she go?" "I don't know. Hinata was kind of weird anyways. She showed up here about two months ago. She never talked to anyone except the owner of the general store." The girl just stared back at him when she was done. "Thanks for the information." Sakura spoke up. "Let's go talk to the store owner." The boys quickly followed the pink haired kunoichi.

Sakura walked into the store followed by the rest of her team. A feminine voice came to her ears. "Hello, welcome to Suki's general store. How may I help you?" Sakura turned to face a petite woman behind the counter. She was middle aged and had long brown hair trailing down her shoulders. "Umm… My name is Sakura and these are my friends and we're looking for the owner of this store." "Well you found her. I am Suki, what can I do for ya, Sakura?" Suki smiled a wide toothy grin which made Naruto grimace. "We are looking for our friend. Her name is Hinata; she has black hair with a blue tint to it and pearlescent eyes." Suki didn't even take time to think. "Ohh... Hinata. You know Hinata? I'm glad she knows someone else beside me." "Do you know where she is? We want to visit her." Sakura gave her most earnest look she could muster. "Why she is at home." "We already checked her house, but her neighbor said she left a couple hours ago." "What?!?" Suki was in shock. "I didn't know she had left. " "Do you know where she might have gone?" Sakura asked. "No. I have no clue." Well thanks anyways. We have to go now." Sakura turned to leave followed by the rest of team seven and Neji.

"Well that was a dead end." Sasuke was annoyed with following Hinata around. The finally tracked her down and she eluded them. It was starting to get to him. For a weakling she was sure hard to get. She had been reported as a missing ninja a year ago. This was a waste of Sasuke's time.

"We can't give up though, Hinata will show up soon. Believe it!" Naruto was as enthusiastic as ever. His annoying mouth just kept going off. He had defiantly enjoyed himself on their travels. Although everyone else was ready to throttle him.

"Let's continue on the Suna. We'll get more supplies then we'll report back to Konoha." Neji knew that they were a week overdue to check back to Konoha, but they had found a clue they wanted to follow. Now they would have to make double time back to Konoha. So Neji lead the way out of the town and towards Suna. It was a couple hours off. But they would make it before dusk.


End file.
